Page 5 of Untraceable
“Val, what did you do?”
“Nothing. I just had to see that there was someone who could help. There was.”
“You hit him.”
“Just to wake him up. It worked.” She sipped at the berry soda.
There were peacekeepers who were talking with witnesses, and someone pointed toward her. Val spluttered and capped her bottle. “Right. I should be going.”
Bailey frowned. “Why?”
“I don’t get along with peacekeepers.”
A deep, growly voice said, “Why would that be, miss?”
Val winced and turned around. “Just something about all the questions makes me feel like I am doing something wrong.”
His features had the cast of one of the many lion shifters that lived in the city. He currently looked like a man with a nice tan.
“What can I help you with, officer?”
“I would like to ask you what you saw just now?”
“Oh, I heard a scream, ran toward it. I took a lot of first aid training in my youth, so I wanted to see if I could help, but someone else had it well in hand. I just stayed to the side.”
“Someone says you struck the child.”
She rubbed her forehead. “I hit the sternum with a closed fist to use enough force to knock some water out. People tend to go light on kids because they are delicate.”
“And then the child began to breathe.”
“He began to cry, but yes.”
“Do you know them?”
“No.”
“Why did you run?”
“Because someone needed help, and if I could, I would.”
Bailey chipped in. “She volunteers in the neighbourhood and generally keeps an eye out for people.”
Val snorted. “Right. I bake cookies for her daughter’s bake sale.”
The peacekeeper smiled. “Right. Fair enough. Are those burns?”
“Yup. I am a baker.”
“Hence the cookies.” He smiled.
“Correct.”
“Do you have any other plans for today?”
“Well, Val is going to go to the club for her first time if I can nag her into it.”
The officer smiled. “First time in town?”
